Building Trust with Students

Defining Trust

Sometimes difficult to define clearly something that everyone thinks they already understand. On a surface level, trust refers to our belief in someone or something’s reliability, but we need to put things in the context of higher ed. As an instructor, my first impulse is always to specifically reference trust in the classroom, but many of these strategies can be adapted to other higher ed contexts as well.

For this discussion about trust, I am relying on the work of Dr. Stephen Chew from Stamford University. He is a cognitive psychologist and the author of the best series of study videos on YouTube. He published info from a keynote address online: ROTL Summit, Links to an external site. and his summary highlights the many academic studies completed on the topic: 

    • Motivation to be truthful (Fiske & Dupree, 2013) 
    • Comfort in another’s presence (Murray et al., 2011)
    • An experience of care and mutual respect, yet also one that demands much of the student (Curzon-Hobson, 2002)
    • Trust typology: competence, benevolence, honesty and predictability (McKnight & Chervaney, 2006)
    • Belief that other’s actions will bring about a benefit or advantage to a person (Chua, et al., 2015)
    • Trust is an individual's or group's willingness to be vulnerable to another party based on the confidence that the latter party is benevolent, reliable, competent, honest, and open (Hoy, 2002)
    • Perceptions of their instructor’s understanding, acceptance, and care (Cavanaugh, et al.,  2018)

Chew also differentiates between trust and rapport. Often, we think about positive relationships in terms of rapport - we like someone, we get along with them, we share similar interests, habits of mind, or sources of humor. Rapport is wonderful, but is different from trust. We can trust someone without rapport. We can count on someone and have high expectations of them, even if we don’t consider them personal friends. 

Another higher ed researcher is also focused on developing trust. Using a concept first written about in business, Wren Mills applies the the idea to higher ed. Swift trust refers to the “special characteristic found among work groups, teams, or committees. It requires people within a group to be willing to ‘suspend doubt’ about whether others who are not known to them can be depended upon to help with a task and will be beneficial (Meyerson). When given swift trust, people respond favorably, thus cultivating a better working relationship.” (What is ‘Swift Trust,” and Why Do I Want It In My Classes? Links to an external site.) The addition of swiftness is key because teams and groups in higher ed frequently change. Our quarters are quick, and unless we are fortunate enough to teach in a program where we see students for several quarters in a row, we see students for 12 weeks. 

 

Why Trust Matters

Chew’s identifies when trust matters:

"In any situation involving risk, challenge, and vulnerability
• In large classes
• When challenging work is required (e.g. STEM)
• Reducing high student anxiety or risk
• First generation or non-traditional college students
• Math anxiety
• Remedial courses
• Stereotype threat
• Minorities or campus outgroups
• Correcting tenacious misconceptions
• Reducing reactivity when teaching contradicts core beliefs and
values"

So, the answer is pretty much everywhere… Trust has a big impact on learning. From supporting academic confidence to increasing the student's sense of belonging, 

Group of people all putting their hands together.

(Image from unsplash.com Links to an external site.)

Obstacles to Trust

Building healthy relationships with students is not as simple as it may sound. There are potential obstacles in the way. For this part of the discussion, I am drawing heavily on the ideas from t Rebecca D. Cox's book The College Fear Factor: How Students and Professors Misunderstand One Another (Harvard UP, 2011 - available as an ebook through SCC library).

In the short video that follows, I cover three obstacles to trust:  

  1. Faculty expectations
  2. Student anxiety (ranging from mild to severe)
  3. Student Perception of Faculty

 

 

Strategies to Increase Trust

Finally, let’s finally move on to the discussion that you actually came for: the strategies. I have collected ideas from Cox's book and Chew's presentation, as well as other resources on the topic of trust. So, let's move to the “so, what do we do?” part of the conversation. 

Before I share that list, I want to really emphasize keeping an equity-minded lens with all these approaches. All of them will absolutely support all students’ learning, but they will have a higher positive impact on key groups of students. We must acknowledge that college is designed well for a certain kind of student. Students who are well resourced and have highly educated parents and are extroverts and socially skilled have advantages/privileges that make adapting to and thriving in college much easier. They advocate for themselves, they self-refer and follow suggestions for resources, they talk to faculty when they are struggling. They believe that others want to help them and are ready to support them. Students with a long history of success in academic arenas walk in with a readiness to trust; while we can certainly break that trust, more often than not, those students are resilient and believe that one bad educational experience is NOT proof they don’t belong in college. But some first-gen, low income, and/or historically-minoritized students don’t walk in expecting that everyone is trustworthy and ready to help. It is these students that are impacted more positively than other populations.

 So, when we employ these and other strategies that build trust, we are reaching out to students from high relational cultures where connections to people and community are key. These practices help all students but they may help us close institutional, gaps.